Abstract
This paper proposes a computationally inexpensive algorithm that uses player data to optimize NPC pathfinding in a competitive, multiplayer environment. Statistics gathered during matches are subjected to pattern analysis and used to modify edge values of the map graph. Utilizing data describing player habits enhances the AI’s odds against the player by letting it better adapt to the situation. Combining the data concerning individual players results in the possibility to react to multiple human opponents at once, maintaining the ability to adapt even after a large number of matches. In order to further improve control over the agent, two novel variables are introduced, increasing the ability to adapt to behavior that is unique in a particular match and giving more control over the risk the agent is willing to take. The findings of the hereby paper can be applied to any pathfinding algorithm that works with directed graphs and used by robots and real life agents.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Dijkstra, E.W.: A note on two problems in connexion with graphs. Numer. Math. 1, 269–271 (1959)
Cui, X., Shi, H.: A*-based pathfinding in modern computer games. Int. J. Comput. Sci. Netw. Secur. 11, 125–130 (2011)
Muntean, P.: Mobile robot navigation on partially known maps using the fast a star algorithm. arXiv preprint arXiv:1604.08708 (2016)
Stout, B.: Smart moves: intelligent pathfinding. Game Dev. Mag. 10, 28–35 (1996)
Lim, S., Reeves, B.: Computer agents versus avatars: responses to interactive game characters controlled by a computer or other player. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 68, 57–68 (2010)
Tencé, F., Buche, C., Loor, P.D., Marc, O.: The challenge of believability in video games: definitions, agents models and imitation learning. CoRR abs/1009.0451 (2010)
Rabin, S.: Game AI Pro 2: Collected Wisdom of Game AI Professionals. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton (2015)
Cass, S.: Mind games [computer game AI]. IEEE Spectr. 39, 40–44 (2002)
Scheepers, C., Engelbrecht, A.: Training multi-agent teams from zero knowledge with the competitive coevolutionary team-based particle swarm optimiser. Soft Comput. 20, 1–14 (2014)
Ponsen, M., Munoz-Avila, H., Spronck, P., Aha, D.W.: Automatically generating game tactics through evolutionary learning. AI Mag. 27, 75 (2006)
Stanley, K.O., Bryant, B.D., Miikkulainen, R.: Evolving neural network agents in the NERO video game. In: Proceedings of the IEEE, pp. 182–189 (2005)
Stanley, K.O., Bryant, B.D., Karpov, I., Miikkulainen, R.: Real-time evolution of neural networks in the NERO video game. In: AAAI, pp. 1671–1674 (2006)
Johnson, D., Wiles, J.: Computer games with intelligence. In: FUZZ-IEEE, pp. 1355–1358. Citeseer (2001)
John, T.C.H., Prakash, E.C., Chaudhari, N.S.: Strategic team AI path plans: probabilistic pathfinding. Int. J. Comput. Games Technol. 2008, 13:1–13:6 (2008)
Dorigo, M., Colombetti, M.: Robot shaping: developing autonomous agents through learning. Artif. Intell. 71, 321–370 (1994)
Welsh, S., Pisan, Y.: Information-oriented design and game AI. In: Proceedings of the Second Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, pp. 227–234. Creativity & Cognition Studios Press, Sydney (2005)
Christou, G.: A comparison between experienced and inexperienced video game players’ perceptions. Hum.-Centric Comput. Inf. Sci. 3, 15 (2013)
Freund, E., Hoyer, H.: Pathfinding in multi-robot systems: solution and applications. In: Proceedings of the 1986 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 103–111 (1986)
Drachen, A., Sifa, R., Bauckhage, C., Thurau, C.: Guns, swords and data: clustering of player behavior in computer games in the wild. In: 2012 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG), pp. 163–170 (2012)
Riot Games, I.: Riot Games API. https://developer.riotgames.com/
Hsieh, J.L., Sun, C.T.: Building a player strategy model by analyzing replays of real-time strategy games. In: 2008 IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence), pp. 3106–3111 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Stawarz, P., Świder, Z. (2017). Data-Driven Video Game Agent Pathfinding. In: Szewczyk, R., Zieliński, C., Kaliczyńska, M. (eds) Automation 2017. ICA 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 550. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54042-9_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54042-9_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-54041-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-54042-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)